DANCE VIEW - More Than a Revival, a Revelation - NYTimes.com DANCE VIEW; More Than a Revival, a Revelation By Jack Anderson Published: September 26, 1993 Dame Ninette de Valois, The Irish-born dancer who founded Britain's Royal Ballet, turned 95 this year. The company celebrated the occasion by demonstrating that she is not only a remarkable organizer but also a gifted choreographer. Her directorial genius is legendary. In 1931, she formed a group known as the Vic-Wells Ballet, after the theaters in which it performed: the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells. Later, it changed its name to the Sadler's Wells Ballet, moved to the Royal Opera House after World War II, made a triumphant American debut in 1949 and became the Royal Ballet in 1956. Although Dame Ninette retired as director in 1963, she continues to serve the Royal as an adviser. The organization now consists of two large troupes, the London-based Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. What tends to be overlooked today is Dame Ninette's choreography.

Over the years, as her administrative duties increased, she allowed her creative output to dwindle, and she choreographed little after 1950. Dame Ninette's artistry was re-affirmed this summer. Both London's Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School mounted her well-known "Checkmate," of 1937, which depicts an allegorical chess game between Love and Death. What came as a revelation was the Birmingham Royal's revival of her "Job," a 1931 work that had not been staged for 20 years. The reconstruction, supervised by Joy Newton and Jean Bedells, two former Sadler's Wells dancers, was one of the highlights of the Birmingham company's summer engagement at the Royal Opera House. Dame Ninette -- looking frail yet still indomitable -- attended the first presentation, on July 29. The Birmingham Royal will keep "Job" in its repertory and has scheduled a special performance of the work on Nov. 11 in Coventry Cathedral. "Job" is distinguished in every respect. Its score by Ralph Vaughan Williams resounds with solemn beauty.

"Job" originally had scenery by Gwen Raverat, but in 1948 it was redesigned by the painter John Piper, and the Birmingham staging retains his conceptions. The darkly glowing colors of the backdrops are reminders that Piper also designed stained-glass windows. Despite the work's beauty, audiences were startled by "Job" at its premiere. Most of its characters are barefoot, others wear sandals, and no one is on point. This refusal to be bound by balletic conventions supports the view of some dance historians that, although Dame Ninette never wavered in her devotion to classical training, her willingness to experiment allied her esthetically with some of the modern dancers of the 30's. The austerity of footgear also suggests something of the work's tone. Inspired by the Old Testament Book of Job and the visionary illustrations made for it in 1825 by the mystical poet and artist William Blake, the deeply expressive yet often understated choreography is not so much a telling of a tale as a meditation on it. The ballet begins by showing Job's family living quietly and happily. The deliberate simplicity of the steps makes this scene akin to a stately folk dance.

The backdrop then rises to reveal a stairway with God at its top. Challenged by Satan, God agrees to test Job's faith. Grotesque dancers symbolizing pestilences enter. Messengers bring melancholy tidings. Hypocritical comforters wring their hands in displays of grief; it is clear they are reveling in Job's misfortunes. GIVEN THE SUBJECT MATTER, some choreographers might have stressed frenzy. Dame Ninette takes another approach. "Job" resembles a Greek tragedy. Although Greek playwrights dealt with disasters, they seldom showed mayhem on stage. Dame Ninette is similarly restrained; her ballet has only two chillingly violent moments. Early on, the members of Job's household suddenly fall after Satan curses them. Later, justice triumphs when, as Satan tries to climb the heavenly stairs, a gesture of banishment by God causes him to tumble. Dame Ninette makes a point of contrasting Satan with Elihu, the youth who proclaims God's glory. Both have grandly scaled movements. Whereas Satan's are twisted and jagged, Elihu's are flowing and harmonious. At the conclusion of "Job" at the Royal Opera House, there was a moment of silence.

It was as if a church service had ended. But hearty applause followed. "Job" is decidedly worth preserving. That being so, why not restore some of Dame Ninette's other ballets? "Checkmate" was also well received this summer. And her past successes include "The Haunted Ballroom" (1934), a ghost story; "Bar aux Folies-Bergere" (1934), an evocation of a Parisian nightspot; "The Rake's Progress" (1935), an account of a young man's descent into debauchery, inspired by Hogarth paintings, and "The Prospect Before Us" (1940), a comedy about 18th-century theatrical rivalries. If "Job" is a good example of their quality, revivals of all of them could enhance balletic repertories on both sides of the Atlantic. Photo: Michael O'Hare, left, Alain Dubreuil and Michela Centin in the Birmingham Royal Ballet production of Dame Ninette de Valois's "Job" -- Deeply expressive. (Leslie E.

Spatt/Birmingham Royal Ballet) Ninette de Valois | The Irish Mother of Modern British Ballet Ninette de Valois | The Irish Mother of Modern British Ballet Julie Daunt Dame Ninette de Valois, known affectionately as Madam, had an immense impact on modern ballet, from setting up The Royal Ballet to nurturing the talent prima ballerinas assolutas. We take a look at the life and immense achievement of the Irish mother of British ballet , from her formative years to her international accolades and fame. © Rob C Croes/Anefo/WikiCommons Born as Edris Stannus in 1898 in Ireland near the town of Blessington in County Wicklow, following the death of her father she moved with her family to England in 1905. At this early age, two formative memories sparked what would become a lifelong interest in dancing: her family home was filled with Irish dance; and as a child, she attended a performance of Sleeping Beauty in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin . With this preliminary knowledge of dance, De Valois started to attend ballet lessons at the age of 10, then going on to professional dance training at the Lila Field Academy for Children at 13.

It was around this time that she legally changed her name to Ninette de Valois, which was to become one of the most recognised names in modern ballet. Following her initial dance training, de Valois went on to receive coaching from some of the world’s most notable teachers and mentors, such as Edouard Espinosa , Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat . It was then in 1923 that de Valois joined the Ballets Russes, one of the world’s leading ballet companies, a move which cemented her lifelong career and growing reputation in ballet. Under the tutelage of the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, whom she always cited as her inspiration and source of success, de Valois rose to the rank of soloist, and performed in some of the company’s most iconic ballets, such as Les Biches and Le Train Bleu. © WikiCommons In 1927, De Valois left the Ballets Russes to achieve her goal of creating her own repertory ballet company and school, and established her own dance school for girls, the Academy of Choreographic Art in Kensington, that aimed at creating and promoting a uniquely British style of ballet.

Although she had grounded her career in Britain, de Valois never ignored her Irish roots, and in that same year, de Valois was invited back to Ireland by W.B. Yeats , where she established the Abbey Theatre School of Ballet, which she directed for six years. Although short-lived, the school was the catalyst for a number of other ballet companies set up in Ireland by her students, such as Cepta Cullen and Muriel Kelly. During the 1930s, de Valois established herself as a choreographer, and produced several short, but iconic ballets, which were performed at the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells theatres in London following de Valois’ collaboration with Lilian Baylis. Her first performance work was Job in 1931, which set the benchmark for the future of the British ballet repertoire, and was the first ballet to be produced by an entirely British team. Job, consisting of eight scenes,was based on William Blake’s engravings of the Book of Job from the Hebrew Bible, and with a libretto written by Geoffrey Keynes. In the performance, de Valois employed the use of mimed actions to recreate Blake’s style of imagery.

Following the success of this ballet, she went on to choreograph The Rake’s Progress in 1935 and Checkmate in 1937, both of which achieved similar success. These performances were the founding stones of the Vic-Wells Ballet Company, which was a precursor for what would become known as The Royal Ballet , and would be de Valois’ most significant contribution to British ballet. The company lost its links to the Old Vic and Sadler Wells theatres, and accepted an invitation in 1946 to move to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden , where the company adopted its new name, following a Royal Charter in 1956. Along with its new location, De Valois expanded the enterprise, and started the Royal Ballet School. The Royal Ballet remains the resident ballet company at the Royal Opera House to this day, and is one of the few ballet companies in the world to have staged three dancers considered to be prima ballerina assoluta, including De Valois’ protégée, Alicia Markova.

© Scillystuff/WikiCommons Madam officially retired from the company in 1963, but continued to have an input and relationship with the establishment for the rest of her life, frequently attending performances and acting as a consultant. She also remained the head of the Royal Ballet school until 1970. Following her retirement, de Valois took to writing, and published four books, including a collection of poetry entitled The Cycle in 1985. De Valois’ influence on modern ballet continued to grow, with the National Ballet of Canada and the Australian Ballet influenced by Madam’s methods and works. Ninette de Valois achieved many awards and accolades in recognition of her contribution to the history of British ballet. In 1947 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and was later promoted Dame Commander (DBE) in 1951. Madam also received the Bronze award for her services to Ballet from the Irish Catholic Stage Guild in 1949 and had the honour in 1953 of being the first recipient of the Royal Academy of Dance Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award .

De Valois was also featured on the Irish stamp in the year 2000. With this endless list of honours and achievements, it is certain that Ninette de Valois’s legacy and devotion to the art of ballet will continue to be celebrated. The Royal Ballet School - Dance SpiritDance Spirit Home » The Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School Tweet It’s Monday morning at London’s Royal Ballet School, where nearly life-size photographs of legendary ballerina Margot Fonteyn guard the foyer. Past them, in a large, airy studio, 40 second-year students struggle through a series of rapid quadruple pirouettes. The complex, dizzying combination seems nearly impossible. Instructor David Peden, a graduate of the school and a former senior soloist with the Royal Ballet, stops the class. “Who’s your favorite ballerina?” he asks. The students hesitate. “Go on!” Peden urges. “Miss Darcey?” suggests a shy 17-year-old, her perfect French twist studded with rhinestones. “Marianela?” offers another, tugging at her royal blue leotard. “Good,” answers Peden.

“Now be that ballerina!” Considering where ballet superstars Darcey Bussell and Marianela Nuñez got their start, it’s no surprise that these students refer to them by their first names: Following in the footsteps of Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth MacMillan and Anthony Dowell, both Bussell and Nuñez began their careers as students at the Royal Ballet School. History One of the ballet world’s preeminent training institutions, the RBS has a rather complicated history. It begins in 1926, when British ballerina Ninette de Valois—then a dancer with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes—opened the Academy of Choregraphic Art, the school’s first incarnation, in London. In the 1930s, the academy underwent several transformations, including the addition of a performing company made up of students from the school and freelance dancers. Eventually both the school and the company moved to London’s Sadler’s Wells theatre and became known as the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School and Company.

In 1946, the Sadler’s Wells Ballet was made resident ballet company at the newly reopened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and the school moved along with it. Finally, in 1956, the Sadler’s Wells Ballet received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth, thus forming the Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School. Training For the past three years, 100 percent of the School’s graduates have been placed with professional companies. In addition to landing contracts with the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, alums of the RBS have joined many North American companies, including American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. How does the Royal Ballet School maintain such an impressive rate of success? The faculty is key. “Our teachers all have dedication, commitment and a love of young people,” explains director Gailene Stock, also a graduate of the school and a former soloist with the Royal Ballet. “Teaching for the Royal Ballet School is not just what they do after careers as professional dancers. They are here because they love ballet and they want to pass it on.” And their classes are very demanding.

Students complete an intensive eight-year program stressing precision and clarity of line. The look of RBS technique is a bit more “conservative” than that of most American schools, particularly in the port de bras. Arms are placed slightly lower, especially in arabesque, and there is a distinct softness at the elbows rather than a rounded shape. Ultimately, though, the goal of the school is to teach a style free of mannerisms. “We aim to produce well-schooled classical dancers who are versatile and able to move into any company,” Stock explains. “The standard is always increasing. We need to keep in tune with what’s in demand.” To this end, students spend their first five years at the Lower School, a boarding school housed at the historic White Lodge in London’s Richmond Park. There, dancers aged 11 to 16 study ballet, contemporary, character, Irish and Scottish dancing as well as music and traditional academic subjects. Eleven might seem like a very young age to leave home, but student William Bracewell, now 18, understood it as a necessary sacrifice. “The thought of leaving my family at that age didn’t exactly thrill me, but by my final audition, I had set my mind to it,” he remembers.

“It’s what you have to do if you want to make it.” While a few students are “assessed out” along the way, most audition for and gain admission to the Upper School for three more years of training. Housed in the heart of Covent Garden, just across the street from the Royal Opera House, the Upper School features six state-of-the-art studios, physiotherapy facilities, changing rooms and academic classrooms. Thanks to the enclosed Bridge of Aspirations, completed in 2003, dancers can walk right into the backstage rehearsal studios of the Royal Opera House. Students take dance classes six days a week, focusing on advanced repertoire, variations and pas de deux, in addition to supplementary classes in nutrition and sessions with performance psychologists. During their first two years, they also study arts management and complete an advanced (“A Level”) course in either art, math, English or French. Graduates receive a Diploma of Dance from the Royal Ballet School and Trinity College. Getting In Each year, hundreds of hopeful would-be ballet dancers from around the world send their audition tapes to the RBS. A lucky few are invited to London, where they take class before a panel of judges.

According to Peden, “We are looking for a certain physique, but mostly we look for the dancer’s potential beyond audition nerves.” Stock also attends the Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix de Lausanne competitions each year, as a school representative, to scout for potential RBS dancers. “We seek students with great ability, drive and commitment,” she explains. “We need to see how keen they are, how hungry they are.” Even the “hungriest” students will find the school’s intensity challenging. “It’s hard being ‘on’ all the time,” William says. “When I get home at night, I barely have the energy to eat dinner and take a bath.” But they’ll also reap great rewards. William, for example, is already getting noticed by major ballet companies. We think he’s well on his way to becoming another RBS success story.

Life at the Upper School First-year students 9:00 am-10:30 am: ballet technique 10:45 am-12:40 pm: choreography 1:30 pm-2:45 pm: pointe work (girls); variations (boys) 3:00 pm-4:15 pm: contemporary (girls); upper body conditioning (boys) 4:30 pm-5:30 pm: repertoire 9:00 am-10:30 am: arts management 11:00 am-12:30 pm: ballet technique 12:30 pm-1:30 pm: lunch 1:30 pm-2:45 pm: contemporary or special coaching (girls); upper body conditioning (boys) 3:00 pm-4:15 pm: pas de deux 4:30 pm-6:00 pm: choreography 9:30 pm-11:00 pm: ballet technique 11:15 pm-12:30 pm: pas de deux 12:30 pm-1:30 pm: lunch 

1:30 pm-2:45 pm: body conditioning (girls); variations (boys) 3:00 pm-5:00 pm: repertoire Kat Richter is a freelance writer with a master’s in dance anthropology.

She lives in London. Photo Courtesy Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet: just how 'British' do we want it to be? | Stage | The Guardian The Royal Ballet: just how 'British' do we want it to be? Judith Mackrell It's hardly shocking that so few Royal Ballet dancers are homegrown nationals – dance in this country has long been enriched by foreign talent. We should celebrate it Symbols of change … Marianela Nuñez and Federico Bonelli are two of the Royal Ballet's foreign principal dancers. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Contact author Wednesday 15 May 2013 11.30 EDT First published on Wednesday 15 May 2013 11.30 EDT Share on Messenger Close Is the Royal Ballet failing young British talent? Over the weekend, former ballerina Bryony Brind expressed her shock that the company now has just one British woman and two British men among its 21 principals. With the company dominated by foreign talent, Brind believes that a whole generation of young British dancers are lacking the inspiration of a homegrown star such as Darcey Bussell .

The issue of Britishness is one Luke Jennings raised last year when he explored the training culture at the Royal Ballet School . After extensive interviews with dancers, he concluded that while the UK isn't short of talent, the Royal Ballet and its school are not being clever enough at nurturing it. British dancers typically mature more slowly than many trained elsewhere – they take longer to find their confidence and edge. And while there are some lovely dancers in the Royal's lower ranks, such as Claire Calvert and Emma Maguire, these women either seem to take longer to push their way to the centre of the stage or are not given sufficient encouragement. (Tamara Rojo as new director of English National Ballet may be making a deliberate point by giving corps de ballet dancer Lauretta Summerscales the chance to perform Odette-Odile in this summer's Swan Lake production at the Albert Hall.) But accepting that there are failures and blindspots to address, it's also important to question how British we really want the Royal or other dance companies to be.

Brind herself was performing during the 80s, at a time when foreign artists were in a minority in the Royal: yet while she and her fellow principal Fiona Chadwick were rightly hailed as examples of new British talent, I remember the overall standard of dancing as relatively lacklustre. Certainly, there has been a very different excitement attached to the Royal in the following decades, with the importation of world-class talents such as Sylvie Guillem , Tamara Rojo, Alina Cojocaru and Marianela Nuñez alongside British ballerinas such as Bussell and Sarah Wildor . Critics argue that the cosmopolitan make-up of the company threatens a dilution of the British "style". But even that issue is moot. Dance in this country has always been a mongrel product: Ballet Rambert – now Rambert Dance company – was founded by the Polish-born Marie Rambert ; while past luminaries of the Royal Ballet include the South African dancer and director Monica Mason , Canadian dancer Lyn Seymour, Ecuador-born choreographer Frederick Ashton , and of course its Irish-born founder Ninette de Valois .

In 21st-century, multicultural Britain, surely it's less important for talent and inspiration to be seen as "purely British" (whatever that means). Olympian hero Mo Farah isn't any less British because he was born in Somalia and lived there until he was eight. And if we want to fly the flag, shouldn't we value the fact that so many foreign dancers actually want to perform here? Even in a crowded marketplace, the Royal Ballet manages to boast a seductively eclectic repertory, ranging from abstract to narrative works, from 19th-century classics to contemporary ballets (a significant number choreographed in-house). When we judge the health of a company like the Royal, the nationality of its dancers and the integrity of its style are important. But even more significant is the level of its creative buzz. Royal Ballet : Facts, News & Music Videos | Classic FM Royal Ballet Biography Based at the Royal Opera House, the world-renowned Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. Now Britain’s largest dance company, the Royal Ballet’s repertoire showcases the best in dance, from great classical ballets to new works by the foremost choreographers of today.

The origins of the Royal Ballet begin with former dancer Dame Ninette de Valois’ Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls founded in 1926. De Valois’ vision to form a repertory ballet company was realised with the help of theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis, who owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres. Baylis asked de Valois to stage dance performances on these stages, and thus the predecessors of the Royal Ballet, the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School, were born. The renamed Sadler's Wells Ballet Company became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946. The company was granted a royal charter in 1956 and so the Royal Ballet as we know it today was born. The Royal Ballet’s parent company, the Royal Ballet School produces world-class young dancers year. The junior school is based at White Lodge in Richmond Park while the senior school is adjacent to the Royal Opera House on Floral Street. Some of the greatest ballet dancers of all time have graced the stage at the Royal Opera House.

Perhaps the company’s most famous dance partnership was Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, who first performed together with the Royal Ballet in Giselle on 21 February 1962. The Company employs approximately 100 dancers and has a wide-ranging repertory showcasing the great classical ballets, heritage works from Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, as well as new works by the foremost choreographers of today. Did you know? Such was Dame Margot Fonteyn’s legacy, that she remains the Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet over 20 years after her death. The Royal Ballet - an international company - LondonDance News: The Royal Ballet - an international company Tuesday 14 May 2013 by Sarah Kearney As reported in the Telegraph today, Kevin O’Hare, the director of the Royal Ballet, responded to comments by former Royal Ballet principal dancer, Bryony Brind, concerning the lack of British principal dancers in the company. He said: “The Royal Ballet today is known as one of the best companies in the world.

It’s an international company with dancers from more than 19 different nationalities, many of whom have trained at the Royal Ballet School. “It is The Royal Ballet’s unique style and breadth of repertory that attracts the best dancers from all over the world to join the Company, as has always been the case. “The question about the Britishness of the dancers is a much bigger one; about access to dance education from an early age, training and funding.” Read the full article, Andrew Hough, Telegraph, 14 May.13 Judith Mackrell in the Guardian discusses the importance of the creativity and talent of the Royal Ballet and how the company has been enriched by dancers and choreographers from overseas. “Critics argue that the cosmopolitan make-up of the company threatens a dilution of the British “style”. But even that issue is moot.

Dance in this country has always been a mongrel product: Ballet Rambert – now Rambert Dance company – was founded by the Polish-born Marie Rambert; while past luminaries of the Royal Ballet include the South African dancer and director Monica Mason, Canadian dancer Lyn Seymour, Ecuador-born choreographer Frederick Ashton, and of course its Irish-born founder Ninette de Valois.” THE ROYAL BALLET The Royal Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the four major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois, it became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946 and was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship national ballet company. The Royal Ballet was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century, and continues to be one of the world's most famous ballet companies to this day, generally noted for its artistic and creative values. The company employs approximately 100 dancers and has purpose built facilities within the Royal Opera House.

The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School, and it also has a sister company, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which operates independently. The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet is the late Dame Margot Fonteyn. History In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues. Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School. Prior to her return to Britain, Ninette de Valois had been a member of the Ballets Russes, one of the most renowned and influential ballet companies of the 20th century.

The company disbanded in 1929 following the death of its founder Serge Diaghilev. When de Valois formed the Vic-Wells Ballet, she employed some of the company's former stars, including Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, who joined as Principal dancers, and Tamara Karsavina, who worked with the company as an advisor. The Founder Musical Director was the conductor and composer Constant Lambert who had considerable artistic as well as musical influence over the early years of the company. After losing the link with the Old Vic theatre, in 1939 the company was renamed Sadler's Wells Ballet and the school became Sadler's Wells Ballet School. Both continued at Sadler's Wells Theatre until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, under the direction of David Webster. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being The Sleeping Beauty. Following the relocation of the company, the school moved to its own premises in 1947.

A sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, under the direction of John Field. In 1955, the sister company temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells and returned to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company. In 1956, a Royal Charter was granted for both companies and the school; they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.[5] The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1970, while continuing to tour the country. In 1987, however, the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome. It relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being renamed Birmingham Royal Ballet and it ceased to be part of the Royal Ballet in 1997 when it was made independent of the Royal Opera House, with Sir Peter Wright as Artistic Director. Birmingham Royal Ballet retains close relationships with both the Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School, although it now has its own associate ballet school, Elmhurst School for Dance.

In 1964 the Royal Ballet established "Ballet for All" under the direction of Peter Brinson. Between 1964 and 1979 "Ballet for All" toured throughout the country, presenting around 150 performances per annum and reaching around 70,000 people each year. In 1976 the Royal Opera House established its schools' matinee programme. Today the Royal Ballet remains the resident ballet company at the Royal Opera House, conducting its own tours internationally, and it continues to be the parent company of the Royal Ballet School, which is now based at White Lodge, Richmond Park and premises in Floral Street which are adjacent to and have direct access to the Royal Opera House. Sergeyev During its formative years, the Sadler's Wells Ballet would become one of the first ballet companies outside the Soviet Union to stage full productions of ballets by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, which were central to the repertory of the Imperial Russian Ballet. To stage these ballets with her newly formed company, de Valois employed Nicholas Sergeyev, a former rï¿½gisseur of the Imperial.

He staged productions of Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty; Petipa and Ivanov's Swan Lake and The Nutcracker; Petipa and Cecchetti's production of Coppï¿½lia; and Petipa's Giselle. Created with the aid of choreographic notation written in St Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century, these works have been included in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet ever since. The company now uses Peter Wright's 1984 production of The Nutcracker, which uses some of Sergeyev's notation. Sergeyev's revivals of these ballets in London are regarded as the foundation point of the traditional classical ballet repertoire, and led to their being restaged throughout the world. Sergeyev is considered to have made one of the most significant contributions to the popularity of ballet worldwide. His choreographic notation and other materials relating to it have been preserved in the Sergeyev Collection, part of the theatre collection of the Harvard University Library.

Prima ballerina assoluta The Royal Ballet is one of the few ballet companies in the world to have staged performances by three dancers considered to be Prima ballerina assoluta, the two 20th-century dancers having studied at the Royal Ballet School. The first was Alicia Markova who, having been mentored by Ninette de Valois as a member of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, was invited to become one of the founder dancers of the Royal Ballet. She was designated the company's first Prima ballerina, and was later recognised as a Prima ballerina assoluta. Margot Fonteyn spent her entire career dancing with the company and was appointed Prima ballerina assoluta by Queen Elizabeth II . Alessandra Ferri began her career with the Royal Ballet; she was later appointed Prima ballerina assoluta of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan. Structure The Royal Ballet has six ranks of dancers in ascending order: Artist: the lowest rank in the company and, together with the First Artists, dancers at this level form the Corps de ballet. Ballet school graduates entering the company usually do so at this level.

First Artist: a rank for the more senior members of the Corps de Ballet. Dancers at this level have the opportunity to perform some of the Corps de Ballet's more featured rï¿½les, such as the Dance of the Cygnets in Swan Lake. First Artists will occasionally be cast in minor Soloist rï¿½les if they are being considered for promotion. Soloist: there are normally 15ï¿½20 soloists in the company. As the title suggests, dancers at this level perform the majority of the solo and minor rï¿½les in a ballet, such as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet or one of the Fairies in The Sleeping Beauty. First soloist: the rank where dancers are being considered for promotion to principal level. A dancer at this rank will dance a varied repertoire of the most featured soloist rï¿½les, whilst understudying and having the opportunity to perform leading rï¿½les when a Principal dancer is either injured or unavailable. Principal character artist: the rank given to members of the company who perform important character rï¿½les in a ballet. These rï¿½les are normally very theatrical and often include character dance and ballet mime.

Examples include Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty or Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. Most Principal Character Artists in the Royal Ballet are older dancers who have been high-ranking members of the company. Principal: the highest rank in the Royal Ballet and dancers at this level generally perform the leading and most featured rï¿½les in a ballet. To be a principal is to be recognised as one of the leading dancers in the company and a number of the world's most celebrated dancers have been principals with the company. The Royal Ballet also has special ranks for visiting dancers, they are "guest artist and "principal guest artist". The Company The Royal Ballet employs approximately 100 dancers and a complete list is shown below. The company also has an Executive, Artistic and Music staff, including the following: Director ï¿½ Kevin O'Hare, a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former dancer with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Associate Director ï¿½ Jeanetta Laurence, a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former dancer with the Royal Ballet Touring Company, the New Group and Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet.

Music Director ï¿½ Barry Wordsworth, a British conductor and junior alumnus of the Trinity College of Music Company & Tour Manager ï¿½ Andrew Hurst, a Royal Ballet School graduate who was previously General Manager for Phoenix Dance Company. Resident Choreographer ï¿½ Wayne McGregor CBE, an award-winning choreographer, most noted in the field of contemporary dance and as Artistic Director of Random Dance company. Artistic Associate ï¿½ Christopher Wheeldon SIR FREDERICK ASHTON Sir Frederick Ashton was the founder choreographer of the Royal Ballet. Previously a dancer with the Ballet Rambert, Ashton started his career as a choreogapher under the direction of Dame Marie Rambert, before joining the Royal Ballet as its associate choreographer when the company was founded in 1931. He created the majority of the company's early works and staged their first performance at the Royal Opera House, a production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1946. Ashton was appointed Artistic director of the Royal Ballet from 1963 to 1970, when he retired from the post.

He continued to work as a choreographer internationally, with his final work being the Nursery Suite, for a gala performance by the Royal Ballet School at the Royal Opera House in 1986. His numerous ballets have since been staged by leading dance companies worldwide and feature strongly in the programming of the Royal Ballet today. Choreographic works Ashton created over 100 original ballet works and numerous other productions, some of the most notable including: A Month in the Country Birthday Offering Varii capricci SIR KENNETH MACMILLAN Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 1929 ï¿½ 29 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977. Although a talented dancer, MacMillan is best known for his choreography, and particularly for his work with the Royal Ballet. He also worked with the American Ballet Theatre (1956ï¿½7) and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin (1966ï¿½69).

He succeeded Frederick Ashton as Director of the Royal Ballet in 1970 and resigned after seven years, frustrated at balancing the conflicting demands of creating ballets with administration. He continued as Principal Choreographer to the Royal Ballet until his death in 1992.

Question: What was the name of the Irish dancer who founded the Royal Ballet School?
Answer: NINETTE DE VALOIS